“Could use a rest.” Tyr panted. Now, he was tired. More tired than he'd ever been before. Feeling his tendons pop uncomfortably as he yanked his weapon from the pulverized skull of something called a 'brethwisth'. A strange creature, but ultimately they all were. Some weren't even entirely corporeal, just floating orbs of energies bobbing around until his enchanted club smashed them apart. They'd been given a scant eight or so hours of rest before the wall had come tumbling down in glassy shards of ice, be replaced by the flesh of yet more monsters. Another tide, though not so thick as the first. Still, it was endless. Never ceasing in their wild rush to escape their astral prison. To survive.
“Tired already?” Benny's pale body was soaked in sweat. So pale as to make Tyr's light complexion looked tanned in comparison. Even still, he was radiant and full of wild energy. Seemingly unaffected by the constant fighting. As if it sated some lust or hunger within him. Perhaps it did, they weren't called 'warborn' for nothing.
The others could not say the same. Xavier was still energetic as his kinsman was, but his mana had long run dry to the point where he'd replaced his metallic frame with curved short swords. Weaving around the van of Tyr, Benny, and Girshan – with them occupying the front of their particular space within the tunnel to poke and prod at the enemy. The others were all soaked in sweat, panting and collapsing between every wave, some were in the midst of taking their last breath. This world was a place... And not a good one. Tyr could feel them dying all around him, their hearts giving out, bled dry of all they were worth.
“Well...” Benny laughed, slumping down to the ground alongside Tyr and chuckling. “It's good to be back by your side. You fight with great valor, there are not many humans who could keep up with me!”
“Mmm.”
“How are there so many of them?” Yana was on all fours, green faced with exertion and woozy from the constant spinning necessary to keep her pendulum under control. In such a tight space she had to keep her movements similarly tight. “There were never so many monsters on the other side of the gate...”
Abe would answer, as he would when any sort of question regarding magical theory was asked. “These monsters are different than those we might find on the 'surface world'. Of course, inter-dimensional gates give no respect to cardinal direction, but let's just call it that. Old dungeon jargon. Very few monsters are real things. They hunger for the energies of our world, and even stepping through gives them a sustenance that true living beings cannot appreciate. They are running from the fog, and reincorporating every time we kill them. As in, they are infinite, or close to it, as long as the bridge remains active. Their mana will continue to reform and become new creatures, forever – technically. Singularity theory suggests we all come from monsters, actually, and our end-point as biological beings is to become gods. You know? Mana constructs, artificial things, to truly sapient beings, to civilization level races – and so on. Some hit the wall, but academics posit some pass this 'wall' and become celestial entities. Make sense?”
“Sure does.” Tyr lied through his teeth, only concerned with getting the ringing out of his ears. It was going to happen again soon and he wanted to get somewhere safe. But he wasn't about to run, regardless.
“Infinite...?” Jura groaned. “I hate magic!”
“You use magic...” Yana argued, or at least she tried to, looking about to retch at any moment. Tyr rose and knelt down to 'steal' her nausea. As much of it as he could, plopping back down beside her to rest his back against the wall as it washed over him. Too sick to be amused at the shocked gaze she gave, staring at her hands. Abe looked at him with pursed lips and a lowered brow, but it didn't seem anyone else had noticed. He did it for the rest. Taking their exhaustion upon himself. He could do nothing for wounds, but it seemed like flagging stamina and the symptoms of mana sickness were well within his reach if he minutely adjusted how he approached the process.
Something... Physical, maybe. That must be the element needed for this strange ability to work. He could cure arthritis, relax the lactic build up in muscles and aid in their recovery, but he couldn't – for example – make someone sane if they'd fallen into a psychological con... It wasn't long before he was asleep. Not asleep, but properly unconscious. It was a wonder how any of them were able to continue going. Waves of nausea and exhaustion had crashed against Tyr's mind until he couldn't handle it anymore – and collapsed. Biting off more than he could chew.
“Wow, I feel so much be--” Abe interrupted Jura's question with a glare and jerk of his head, looking around the tunnel at the other adventurers. Thankfully, none had noticed it. They were all under a great strain, but the redstone that powered most of this construction had begun to leak into the surrounding atmosphere. Making it even worse. Tyr had taken that as well. Like some kind of magical empath. Abe understood that Tyr's magic was unique, but he'd never seen anything like this. If the others demanded he used it on them, which they would, the effects might be too severe. His body could heal wounds, but there was no consensus that he could come to regarding his state of mind.
Anima knotted around infirmities regardless of their source or effect. Tyr wasn't 'un' knotting them, he was giving his own energy in equivalent exchange. Enough of that, too fast, and it could have terrible side effects. While Abe was not at all familiar with this magic of his, he knew that much.
“So, if they are infinite...” Benny didn't seem so excited anymore. Fighting was one thing, but he'd never been a fan of the concept of dying. Unlike most of the others from his homeland, not until the right time came. His mother had always said that, that he would know when it would come, the red moon and the white wolf mourning. “Does that mean...?”
Abe shook his head. “We simply have to wait until the astral gate changes.”
“And when will that be?” Benny asked, feeling some shred of hope. Just for a brief moment. Abe's frown told him that there was no such hope to feel.
“Two.” Abe said. He returned to mumbling to himself, leafing through his grimoire and scratching notes into the surface of the pages every third turn. “Three, maybe.”
“That's not bad.” Benny sighed before chuckling. “Three days. I can handle three days.”
They could easily achieve such a feat. The time they'd been given by the wall of ice had been a blessing. Enough for them to stagger their pace and build up further defenses to funnel the monsters. Most of them were left with only melee capability. An earth mage had turned the tunnel into a death trap where fewer than three monsters could pass abreast. Packing them in tight so that none could skirt the cordon of melee fighters. Leaving the mages safe in the rear to slaughter to their hearts content. So much loot had begun to pile up that all the assembled adventurers found themselves with full dimensional rings. Rotating every so often to bank or exchange them for contribution points. Due to the circumstances, the association would only take so many per day and were not offering bounties of monetary rewards for the monsters. But that was only natural. The wealth that the hundred or so adventurers had built up might bankrupt them, so the exchange rate was low for now.
Based on the outcome, there would be lump sum rewards from an issued participation quest they'd all received. But it wasn't an established value, though it was sure to be good based on the fact that the first layer of the citadel had been smashed apart already.
The rule of the assembled guilds was tyrannical. If it wasn't useful, it was scrapped into composite and used to enrich mana crystals. A smart man would've taken a full ring of items and fled the city, but they'd never allow that. Alexandros had few rules, but that was one of them. To never allow the wealth of the republic to escape beyond its borders unless through official channels. If Lyra was good at anything, it was enforcing their laws. Blademasters and their like were exceptionally rare to see in the day-to-day, but they'd get you one way or another. By land or sea, they sniffed a person out better than any inquisitor.
“Yeah.” Jura replied. “Three days doesn't seem so bad. We've gotten so many reinforcements with the delay. Why don't we just leave?”
Abe shook his head again, humming and muttering. Barely audible. “What did you just say?” Jura asked. Twice necessary, so focused was Abe on his mathematical formula.
“Not three days.” He said. “Based on the mana signature present in the tunnel, the energy is not receding. Rather, it's being exacerbated by some degree. The fog pushed, the monsters run, straight into us. I doubt they even know where they're going until they are already inside, that's when they go wild. At some point in the bridge between worlds a nominal mana cascade phenomena is being generated by the encroaching fog, and it's not stopping. There are five mana signatures beyond the gate that are attempting to stop it, and failing. Chances are, our three friends are part of that, though I am unsure of the other two. Not to save us, mind you, but to contain the energies of the gate. Every monster that comes through and exists for too long will begin to wear at it's reality, taking a thread of mana with them. As in, anyone on the other end will... Cease to exist? I'm not sure. Maybe they will continue to exist, but it wouldn't be much of an existence. Their corporeal bodies would be shredded into their most basic components and they would just... I'm not sure. Float around? More study is needed, I wish I could get a closer look.”
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All of them, those awake that is, stared at him in confusion. He went on and on about 'mana cascades' and 'buffer rejection'. 'Ward tearing' and 'sphere conjunction'.
“...What?” Not one of them understood it. Except for the bespectacled mage on Benny's team. Camille or Camilla was her name, something like that...
“Preliminary data would suggest...?” She too thought for a moment, nodding energetically as Abe's rambling words and taking notes of her own. Two peas in a pod, one might say, if they all weren't so baffled at the torrent of jargon none of them understood. “Not three days. I see. Between two to three months, and that's...” She looked up abruptly, wide eyed and staring into Benny's two scarlet orbs. “Three months...” Only then did she realize the significance of the time frame they'd just left them with.
Startling them all, the previously unconscious Tyr, still slumped against the wall with Yana nervously checking on him began to laugh. “Three months.” He repeated. “Just enough time.” He was delirious. Still caught in a loop of feeling all the discomfort he'd taken from the others.
“Enough for what...?” Abe asked. Honestly, he was curious. A look at the boy and he could tell that there was a depth there. A depth the man was either incapable or unwilling to communicate. Always hidden just beyond sight, behind all of the walls the young and angst-ridden would put up.
Tyr's eyes turned to slits. Perhaps realizing that he'd said more than he wanted to. Before another moment had passed, he was sound asleep again, ignoring the question. Benny chuckled before carrying his limp body to the rear, tucking him in as best he could in one of the offered cots. Made difficult by the fact that the armor he wore was like a second skin. Boots that seemed an independent component of the ensemble could not be removed. Straps and buckles could not be undone. Even the cloak refused to part ways from the rest of the armor.
“He's all tuckered out.” Benny smiled softly, laying a blanket over the mans limp body after ensuring they were far enough away from the front so as to be safe. “Thanks again, brother.”
Jura frowned, crossing her arms and staring down at Tyr's sleeping form. With his face stilled, no longer split by that constant scowling – he appeared so incredibly pure. Handsome, even. She wasn't so daft as to not draw a conclusion from how Abe had acted. But she trusted him more than most people alive, though she couldn't say why. Competent, yes, but trustworthy? “You two are good friends, eh?”
Surprisingly, Benny shook his head. “We aren't. Not yet. But a debt of life is a debt of life, something I'm sure you understand.” Meaning in his words missed by none, all of them nodding. Though few understood how far Benny would go for his 'brother'. Songs said adventurers were noble and kind heroes traveling the land to protect the common people but this was far from the truth. More often that not they were petty scoundrels. Tyr had been the first random addition to their party to do them a good turn, and more besides whether he realized it or not.
Benny's faith in him was absolute. Growing up on tales of humans and their shining knights only to find that those were few and far between. If not nonexistent, but Tyr was an exception to that empirical rule. Someone who fought and accepted injury in concern for the betterment of his comrades. Whether he would survive them all was irrelevant in Benny's eyes. It was the thought that counted. Pain was pain, if nothing else. Tyr had no fear, and to a kijin this was tantamount to godliness. Even in the face of the manticore, before they'd all collapsed, Tyr had remained standing.
Dauntless.
And there was nothing more beautiful than looking up at the back of a battle brother in that moment, facing the void and snarling back at it.
“I love him.” Benny said, stunning them all. “I don't know why, you know? And don't look at me like that – little brother. I mean I love him like family. For some reason that is unclear to me. Even at our first meeting, some of us felt it. Not all, but I and Rakkis, as well as Kirk. You will understand, in time.” He said, with resolute eyes. “I will protect him. Out of debt, and because he is special among humans.”
Abe raised his eyebrows. Inconspicuously opening his grimoire despite the fact that he was in full view of all of the others. “But why...?”
He didn't need to ask, but he needed data. Benny's 'love' was beyond him. Abrath did not understand it, but he knew of the pull he had mentioned and had felt it. As had the others, apparently. Jura was always so rude to guests and visitors, so much so that the master refused to allow her the freedom to roam the Krieg as he did with most of the others. Yana was so shy, and Girshan so impersonal. Yet they'd taken to the man almost immediately with little skepticism. Girshan was playing a game, something he didn't yet understand either – but that didn't matter. He wanted to understand the phenomena. What a primus was capable of.
“A king.” Kirk said, in his strange voice that lacked an echo. Borne of some kind of wind magic generating a vibration phenomena in the air. Coming from all around him and no place in particular. All, except for Benny, stared at him in blatant skepticism. “My mother told me that some maxxid are born like that. Born leaders. That doesn't make them good at it, but they have a gravity to them. She'd had four thousand children at this point, so I suppose she knew a thing or two about being born, if not for a purpose. I barely knew her. But that is what she said. I never thought it was true until we nearly came to blows in the association headquarters. Back in Amistad. It is akin to... Hmm... How would you state such a thing, Benny? In terms of human emotion?”
“Like a virus.” Benny shrugged. The others seemed disturbed at this, causing him to hold up his hands in an attempt to assuage their concerns. “No, no. I mean, like... Positivity can be contagious, right? It's the same with him, but it's something else. He's definitely not very positive. Always so grim and moody, I dunno. Like gravity, it is a force of nature, of law. Kijin only soul bond with one person. I'm still young, but old enough and with enough connection to our culture to have been about the breeding halls. It sounds more savage than it is but think of it like a speed dating service. Females come to find a worthy match, and we make babies. Then we leave, rarely do kijin males have a say in how their young are raised. Well, perhaps it is savage...” He paused, conflicted.
“...Anyways. I've met many females, and many males of my kind besides. I've never felt a wish to bond. I don't feel that with Tyr, yet. But it's something like that, if the way I've heard the compulsion is similar. It's hard to say. But... I suppose I wouldn't mind in his case. Whereas all others that I've met seemed so... And they weren't bad people – mind you. But revolting. That's how I would describe my feelings about the idea of a proper bonding, it never was of interest to me.”
Girshan glowered at nothing in particular. “Boy love.” He frowned. It wasn't exactly unheard of, but very rare among beastkin. Not disliked in particular, but not celebrated either. Unlike humankind and their incessant need to flaunt their degeneracy, loud and proud. Beastkin society was far more conservative in this way.
“No.” Xavier shook his head. He'd had little contact with any other kijin, less than two in his entire life, even at a distance. But his master had given him books and scrolls to read from, or be read to from, by Abe. “It is not romantic. It is a grim honor. A bond for life.... Right?” He look toward Benny in askance. Someone who had lived among their people and would know better.
Benny nodded. “It is not romantic. It's not like I'd ever rut with a human. Our children would be weak and scrawny. No offense to him, of course, but the powers of a primus don't translate by blood heritage. They've only ever had children with other humans. And, you know, we're both... Males. I'm not sure how that would work, exactly. It's like... The most sacred vow we could make. If a soulbond partner were to demand the other kill themselves, at the drop of a hat, we would do it. No questions asked. And many males in kijin society bond of souls, it does not have to be a female.”
“Sounds like a lot of responsibility.” Jura replied, voice grave. Orcish bondings were serious, but not that serious. Both individuals retained the right of free will, and divorce was a custom as well. If granted permission by the chieftain, that is. “I see what you mean, though.”
“You do?” Benny asked, a bit relieved if she was telling the truth. Frankly, it felt a bit disgusting for him. Kijin as a society did not hate humankind. They were a warrior society, near all clans practiced the old ways. The fact that they'd lost to men made men 'right'. The problem was that he'd woken up one day wondering why after all those attempts to bond, a human had been his fated partner, perhaps. He still hadn't decided – but he was pretty confident that was the case.
Jura nodded slowly. “I've always thought humans were so, as you said, revolting. Truly. My father was a human and he was a kind man, but he was my father. Naturally I'd love him. It is our way. But humans are so ugly. They smell awful and their mouths in particular are like... Fecal matter mixed with decaying fish. They all have this idea of orcs being some unkempt and dirty lot, but my people are obsessively clean in comparison. I cannot stand to be around humans, even the noble ones who bathe daily. Standing in this tunnel a few arms lengths away from the nearest one of them is still grinding on my nerves. And yet...” She sighed, shrugging. Unable to frame the words she wanted to. “He smells good, I guess. Orcs have a saying about these things, that the eyes lie, but...”
Kirk shrugged, or at least they thought he did. His chitinous bulk made it hard to tell what he was doing, and his eyes never blinked. Unnerving most of the humans in the tunnels, which occupied the vast majority of the demographic. As for the others, they made it a point of pride to accept him as an inhuman race. “King.” He repeated. “Big boss man. Red claw. Only a truly civilized people such as mine could understand. Born to be great, or born to be terrible – it does not matter. Both will be remembered by generations to come.”
Abe nodded slowly, frowning into his grimoire and scribbling away as he always did.